


Tree Decorating

by lemurfoxtrot



Category: Class (TV 2016)
Genre: Christmas, Fluff, M/M, Secret Santa, class
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-27
Updated: 2017-12-27
Packaged: 2019-02-22 17:03:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13171323
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lemurfoxtrot/pseuds/lemurfoxtrot
Summary: Classmate Secret Santa gift for @newyearsswift. Prompt:  Tree decorating, snarky Quill secretly wants to join the fun would be appreciated but not necessary





	Tree Decorating

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoy!!

“Push harder!”

“Is not going to fit, Charlie.”

“It will!”

“Charlie. It is too big.”

“Please, Matteusz! I’ve been looking forward to this.”

“Can you actually hear yourself?” Ram said disgustedly, voice slightly muffled by young but heavy fir tree the group was supporting.

“They’re innocents,” April laughed beside him. “Come on Ram, tuck that branch in.”

“This was not how I planned to spend my Friday night,” Ram said but complied with his girlfriend’s words.

With one last heave, several muttered swearwords and various grunting noises, Matteusz, Charlie, Ram, Tanya and April finally managed to push the wide Christmas tree through Charlie’s narrow front door and into the hallway.

They clumsily slid the tree trunk first into the sitting room, leaving a river of pine needles and broken branches in their wake. Ram and Matteusz heaved the tree upright and leant it against the wall, stepping back to catch their breaths.

It had been a unanimous decision by the group to help Charlie get a Christmas tree. Luckily, there was still Christmas trees this late into December, although their choice had been restricted to either the very large or very small. Charlie, with a childlike glee and excitement, had of course gone for the larger one and needed the Bunghole squad to help him and Matteusz get it home.

“How very dramatic,” Quill’s bored voice floated from the sofa behind them. Ram gave a little jolt of surprise, not having seen her from behind the tree. Despite their theatrical entrance, she appeared completely involved with her. Tanya noted she had moved on from Hunger Games to Red Rising, at Tanya’s own personal recommendation.

“You do realise you lost about half the tree on the journey in, don’t you?”

“You could’ve helped,” Ram retorted.  

“You seemed to be coping just fine on your own, Mr. Singh,” she turned a page on her book idly. “By the way, you have pine needles in your eyebrows.”

“We can just turn it,” Matteusz reassured Charlie, who looked mildly distraught at Quill’s correct observation that one side of the tree was thoroughly battered from being dragged along the hall.

Quill eyed a close needle balefully. “Why in God’s name have you not stripped it first?”

“Strip it?” Matteusz asked curiously.

“You’ve left the- the green bits on.”

“Why would we take them off?” April asked.

Quill stared at them with confusion. “With all this -shrubbery- on the branches, how will you get to the branches to carve?”

“Humans bring trees into their homes near Christmas to hang lights and ornaments from,” Charlie said proudly. “This tree is traditional.”

“Oh Goddess, not more guff about this Chrimstas or whatever it’s called. Ignoring the obvious ridiculousness of human religions, the celebration itself appears to have been appropriated-”

“Quill, we have discussed this,” Matteusz interrupted Quill’s speech with a slightly weary expression as Tanya mouthed “white people” at Ram.

“Explain to me again Santa,” Charlie asked Matteusz, who was valiantly turning the tree to try and hide the damaged portion.

“Wait, I’ve heard of Santa,” Quill interrupted. “A figure from legend, he rules over his considerable domain using farm tools with surprising effectiveness, yes?”

The humans in the group paused for a moment.

“Satan. You’re talking about Satan,” April said finally. “ _Santa_ originated in the legend of a Christian saint called St. Nicholas and _supposedly,”-_ she shot a meaningful look at Ram, who had been teasing her about it earlier, “-delivers Christmas gifts to every child on the world in Christmas Eve.”

“I was not aware humans had developed such technology,” Quill said, surprised. “Of course you would put it to such a sentimental use, rather than actually improving anything-”

“It’s a children’s story,” Tanya cut in before Quill got caught up in another tirade. “It’s not real.”

Quill looked hugely put out at being interrupted twice. “How utterly predictable and disgustingly wholesome.”

“What a surprise, Quill prefers Satan to Santa,” muttered Ram and Matteusz hid a smile.

“I shall bring down the decorations. Help me?” Charlie touched Matteusz’s arm gently and the taller boy entwined their hands, following the alien from the room.

“Right, if I’m giving up my Friday evening, I better get something out of it,” Ram said to April, pulling her in the direction of the kitchen. She followed, shaking her head amusedly, leaving Quill and Tanya. 

“This has to be the first human custom you’re ok with.”

Quill snorted. “Did I not make my opinion of the Christian ideology and human religions in general as absurd at best and destructive and divisive at worst?”

“Crystal,” Tanya nodded, “But I was referring to having Christmas tree in the house.”

“I was born and raised in a nest, Miss Adeola,” Quill raised her eyebrow at the young girl. “Living with nature isn’t exactly new to me.”

Before Tanya had time to even start thinking of an answer to that harsh reminder of Quill’s otherness, Matteusz and Charlie were back with a bag of decorations and the colourful stand for the tree, while April and Ram returned armed with snacks and a Bluetooth speaker pumping Christmas songs.

The first problem arose in getting the base under the tree, which, unfortunately, was too wide for the boys to get a good grip on the trunk. The resulting effect was that even with April and Matteusz trying to lift from the bottom, and Charlie and Ram bracing it from the front, they could still not get it high enough. Almost as one, the group turned to look at Quill, still nonchalantly reading her book.

“Quill…?”

She gave a theatrical sigh and set her book down. “I do _no_ t remember this being in the contract when the Doctor set me in charge of you juveniles.”

“I have led armies to victory,” she continued to no one as she walked over to them, “I have triumphed in open battle and in duel, and what is my life now? Battling a _Christmas tree.”_

She knelt and stuck her head under the wide branches. Matteusz didn’t see how she was going to get enough leverage to push in that position, when suddenly she cried “brace!” and easily lifted the tree ten inches into the air. Tanya quickly slid the base under the tree, and Quill lowered the tree, leaving the group once again marvelling at Quills easy-to-forget strength.

She scooted out as elegantly as one can scoot out from under a tree, dusting off her clothes.

“Quill,” Ram began solemnly, “you’ve got pine needles in your eyebrows.”

The blonde alien settled for a withering glance in return before turning to rummage through the bag of decorations Matteusz had dumped. After a pause, several surprised glances that Quill had actually stayed, and a murmured “you are very brave,” by Mattuesz to Ram, the others began to copy her.

April, Ram and Tanya quickly put themselves in charge of untangling the lights; Matteusz and Charlie were too occupied with circling each other with the tinsel, and they were too cute for Tanya to tell them off. Soon strings of lights were crisscrossed over the main bulk of the tree. Tanya wordlessly passed the string to Quill when it got to the upper half, who, after narrowing her eyes at Tanya, hesitantly took it and continued wrapping the lights upwards.  

It was a rare peaceful moment for the group: the teasing, jabs and laughter quietly died down until the only sounds were the rustle of branches and the quiet carols playing from Ram’s phone. The soft lights glowed warmly over everyone there; even Quill seemed softer, less defensive, as she dripped red tinsel over the branches.

They stopped more or less as one, stepping back to view the final picture. The wide tree appeared slightly too big for Charlie and Quill’s living room, but it wasn’t like they had an abundance of furniture as it was. The light flickered gently, reflecting off the red tinsel Quill had draped enthusiastically over the majority of the branches. A mismatch of coloured baubles were clustered over the tree, complete with bows, small reindeer and other random pieces Charlie and Matteusz had picked up on their trip. It was, Tanya thought, the most mismatched Christmas tree she had ever seen, and yet somehow it suited them perfectly.

Ram circled his arm around April’s waist, who leant into him. Charlie turned around for his boyfriend, but Matteusz span and left the room quickly, leaving Charlie looking confused and distraught.

“Did we do it wrong?” he asked, breaking the silence. April automatically walked over and rubbed his shoulder comfortingly.

“Of course not, Charlie. He’s probably just sad because- well, because he’s missing his family.”

“They don’t deserve the title of family,” Quill’s words had a dangerous edge.

“Well, yes,” April agreed, “but that doesn’t change Matteusz’s history and memories with them.”

A car pulled up outside and Tanya’s phone chimed. “Shit guys, I’ve gotta go. This has been really fun, Charlie. Let is know if we can do anything to help with Matteusz, yeah?” She turned to Ram and April. “You want a lift home?”

They murmured acquiescence and followed Tanya, donning hats and scarves and hugging Charlie goodbye. Once they had left, he returned to gaze upon the tree again. Quill hadn’t left, instead reached out to run the needles between her fingers.

“How odd humans are,” she murmured. “If you just hack through the religion and upset and arguments, you can find the occasional spark of beauty in their lives.”

“Not so occasional, I think,” Charlie said, thinking off his boyfriend upstairs and the new experiences he had introduced him too. “And that’s not exactly so different from home.” He couldn’t hide the sadness in his voice at the memories that bubbled within him.

Quill turned to meet his eyes, empty of the usual anger or defiance that marked their interactions. They looked at each other and, for a moment, mourned together the planet they had both loved and lost.  

The sound of Matteusz’s steps broke the spell in the dim room and Quill turned away, letting the branch slip from her fingers. Charlie turned to his boyfriend, offering him a tentative smile that Matteusz returned, albeit a little sadder.

“In Poland,” he began softly, “the baubles- _bombki,_ we call them- is most important. Is made of beautiful glass. My family have one to represent each of us.” He paused, letting the pain of the knowledge his would not be hung at his family tree his year. “Now, I have a new family, and this one, I got for you.”

Matteusz held out the delicate glass bauble, not only to Charlie but Quill as well. Painted on the front of the tree was a snowy scene of a small house. Framing the house were two slender trees on either side of the bauble, their branches reaching up to mingle above the house. On the back of the decoration, a silver waterfall tumbled over red hills beneath a purple sky. A tiny, delicately painted bird flitted through the trees and across the two scenes.

Charlie opened his mouth, eyes sparking with unshed tears. He seemed lost for words momentarily as he reached to touch the vivid painting, stroking the tree reaching to the sky.

“Thank you,” he said, voice breaking as he reached to cup his boyfriend’s face at both the gift and the sentiment. “It’s perfect.”

Matteusz clasped Charlie’s hand with his own and kissed the back of it, before looking beyond to Quill. She was still staring at the bauble in his hand, a vulnerability on her face little seen by either of the boys.

She pulled her gaze up Matteusz and inclined her head, twisting her arms in an oodly formal way that he supposed was a Quill gesture of respect. When she straightened, he held the bauble out to her and she gently picked it up before carefully hanging it on the tree.

“Merry Christmas, Matteusz, Charles,” Quill murmured before leaving the room.

“Merry Christmas,” they murmured in return.


End file.
